Heaven Is A Place on Earth
by GuardianSaiyoko
Summary: Dance like nobody's watching, love like you've never been hurt, sing like there's nobody listening, live like it's heaven on earth...
1. When the Night Falls Down

**Disclaimer:** All I own is a cat and she'd argue the point.**  
**

**When The Night Falls Down**

Ever had a dream where you know it's your life, your friends and your family, but everything seems a little...off? I mean, yeah, that's your house, but the waterslide from the second-story window to the pool out back? That's new. And yeah, that is your best friend, but you really don't recall him owning anything like that outfit. I mean, studded leather? Where the hell would he have gotten studded leather?

Kairi's thoughts wandered into tangents like this every time she saw Yuffie.

See, Yuffie is like one of those dreams, the ones where everything is not-quite-right, like somebody's telling a story about you but with all the little details wrong.

The first time Kairi saw Yuffie, the older girl was driving down the road in her pick-up truck, her dog in the truck bed with a bandanna 'round it's neck. The country girl from movies like Dukes of Hazzard. Only the pick-up wasn't red, it was black with silver racing stripes and a dragon painted on the hood. Only the dog wasn't a Golden Retriever, it was an old, mean-looking, three-legged Irish Wolfhound that looked like he barely fit in the truck bed. And the bandanna wasn't a nice, respectable red- it was a rainbow bandana. And Yuffie wasn't singing along sweetly to country music- no, she was belting out Megadeth's Wanderlust at the top of her lungs.

"I've got a lust for wan-der-ing, branded deeper than the bone!"

Maybe it was the fact that those were the first words Kairi heard out of Yuffie's mouth that lent all her interactions with Yuffie such a sense of urgency.

The second time she saw her, Yuffie was sitting in a diner just off the road in to the little town of Himmel. That was when she got a good look at the girl herself and realised that even Yuffie's attire was slightly off. She was dressed in a bright red, loose T-shirt with a hand-drawn dragon splayed across the back, matching the one on her truck, and block lettering on the front that displayed the words "I'm gonna live forever or die in the attempt." There was an unnecessary belt slung over the shirt with a dragon buckle, and even her paint-stained jeans had a dragon scrawled up one side. She leaned across the counter at Cid's Diner and joked and laughed with Cid, before he laughed and slid back her order- not anything Kairi would have expected the girl to order, based on her quick glimpses of her personality, but a banana split. She took it to a booth near the window, where she shared with, of all people, her dog. Yuffie gave the dog the banana and ate the rest of the ice cream.

Kairi's sense of urgency increased.

The third time she saw Yuffie, Kairi was just finalizing. her move into Himmel. Yuffie stood in the parking lot of the nearby supermarket, talking to two men and laughing. One of them was tall and dark-haired and didn't smile much, wearing nothing but plain black. The other was shorter and smiled a lot, dressed in a Guns'n'Roses T-shirt, and had gravity-defying blonde hair. Like Yuffie, the two looked slightly off.

Kairi found, to her surprise, that she was slightly jealous.

And the urgency reached its pitch, and that's how Kairi met Yuffie.

"Hi, I'm Kairi. I just moved here and I'm looking for a place to stay..."


	2. I Wait For You

**I Wait for You**

Kairi couldn't help but stare as Yuffie opened the door. Actually, she just kinda kicked the door open, allowing the (huge) Irish Wolfhound to bound past her and into the house.

The door was hanging off its hinges...To say that the farmhouse was a fixer-upper would be the understatement of the year. What was even more interesting was that there were dragons everywhere.

Dragon door knocker. Dragon coat rack. Dragons painted on the walls and ceilings. Even...

"Rezner, don't eat that!"

...half-finished paintings of dragons scattered around.

"You live here...by yourself?" Kairi asked hesitantly, moving slowly into the house. Damn, but even the house had that not-quite-right feeling.

Yuffie laughed. "Nah, I live here with my brothers, Cloud and Vincent. Leon lives here too; he's an old friend of Cloud's. He was the only one crazy enough to come with us when we all piled into a truck and took off for the great wide world," she swept her hand in a wide gesture with a grin.

"Are you sure it's all right with them if I move in?"

"Hey, no one ever actually asked about Leon, either. He just kinda tagged along and no one ever got around to kicking him out."

"...What do you guys do for a living?"

Yuffie shrugged, throwing her keys on the table. The glass-topped table held up by dragons. Of course. "Well, I work for the vet, Leon works at Cid's Diner with Cloud, and Vincent works on the house." She grinned and Kairi felt her heart skip. "We got it pretty cheap, seeing as it's falling apart and it's only got two bedrooms."

Kairi twisted her hands nervously. "I hope I'm not taking up space..."

"Naaah. I share a room with Cloud, Leon shares with Vincent. You can room with me an' Cloud, or we can kick Cloud out and you can room with me."

"Your parents don't care that you're rooming with three guys?" Kairi frowned.

"We don't need no stinkin' parents!" a new voice chimed from outside. The blonde Kairi had seen talking to Yuffie earlier tumbled in the door, a cat in his arms. "Yuf, Mustaine's getting in fights again, his ear's clawed pretty bad."

Yuffie waved at him, "Put'im on the couch, Cloud, I'll have a look at him."

"Hey sis, you pickin' up stray people now?" Cloud asked, smiling warmly at Kairi. Then he looked at Yuffie again and shook his head. "Not even asking anymore."

Yuffie snorted. "And you're planning on charging Leon rent when, exactly?"

"Yeah, that's what I thought." Yuffie knelt by the couch to look at Mustaine, who promptly hissed and tried to swipe at her. Yuffie scruffed him calmly. "Cloud, this is pretty deep. I better bring him to the clinic."

Cloud actually brightened. "Is Aeris working?" Yuffie laughed.

"Yeah, Cloud, Aeris is there. I'm gonna ask her to patch up Mustaine, and yes, you can come." She glanced to Kairi. "Wanna come along? We always have job openings."

"Sure, I love animals." Kairi looked at her suitcases- all two of them, really, she didn't own much- and then back at Yuffie, who shrugged.

"Leave'em, it's always fun to confuse Vinnie and Leon."

Kairi shrugged and followed Cloud and Yuffie out the door. Rezner bounded after them and leapt into the truck bed, tail waving proudly. Yuffie tossed Cloud the keys and clambered into the truck bed with the wolfhound, injured and angry cat safely in her arms, and waved Kairi into the passenger seat.

"You guys seem...different, somehow, than anyone I've ever met," Kairi confessed to Cloud. Cloud grinned.

"We _are_ different. We're wanderers, born and bred."


	3. And You Come Around

**And You Come Around**

Kairi stared at Cloud, who answered with a grin and cranked up the radio. Actually, he cranked it up so loud Kairi thought her ears would burst. But...she _did_ like the song.

_Still don't know what I was lookin for_

_And my time was running wild_

_A million dead-end streets_

Cloud rolled down the windows and Kairi heard Yuffie singing along and laughing from the truck bed. Her ears adjusted and she felt surrounded by music, the wind whipping through her hair.

_So I turned myself to face m_e

Kairi twisted in her seat to watch Yuffie in the back. The older girl was laughing and cuddling the injured cat in her arms. Rezner was panting, tongue lolling to the side so that it looked as if he was laughing.

_Strange fascinations fascinating me_

"We're here!" Cloud turned off the truck, grinning, and threw the keys to Yuffie. The siblings strode toward the small building, Kairi tagging awkwardly along behind. Yuffie knocked the door open with her knee, impeded by the yowling and struggling cat. Rezner twined himself between Cloud and Yuffie, whining and nosing the door further open. Yuffie smiled at somebody just out of Kairi's sight.

"Hey Selphie, do you have any spare time today? Mustaine's gone and gotten his ear all torn up."

The group moved into the waiting room- slowly, since Rezner was doing a pretty good job of tripping everyone up. "Of course we have time for you, Yuffie," Selphie said brightly. "Mrs. Dougal is here right now, but Dr.- Aeris will see you as soon as she's done." Yuffie winced at the name Dougal. Kairi wondered why, but not for long.

"And Dr. Gainsborough, they're not...awake for... this, are they?" The annoyingly high-pitched voice was coming closer.

Sigh. "No, Mrs. Dougal. Glen will be anesthetized to be neutered."

Kairi stifled a giggle. Yuffie mock-glared at her.

Cloud laughed, then stifled it quickly when Aeris and Mrs. Dougal came around the corner.

Kairi knew immediately which one was Aeris. The gorgeous woman had the same out-of-step feeling as Cloud and Yuffie.

"Here," she said with a smile. "Mustaine's fighting again? Don't worry, I'll just take him in back and stitch him up, it'll only take a bit."

"Thanks," Yuffie said cheerfully, handing Aeris the cat. "Oh, hey, this is Kairi. She's just moved here, she's rooming with me an' Cloud. Have we got any job openings?"

Aeris turned to Kairi and smiled. "Of course we do. It's a lot of work, though. Are you all right with that?"

"Yes," Kairi said firmly, though inside she was shocked at how fast her life seemed to be moving along since arriving in Himmel. A job and three roommates, two of whom she hadn't even met yet, and she'd only been there a day.

Aeris shifted Mustaine so she could shake Kairi's hand. "Then you can start on Monday, if that's all right with you."

"That's perfect," Kairi said quietly, suddenly feeling shy. "Thanks."

Aeris shifted her attention back to Yuffie. "Thanks, Yuf, you always find me the best employees. C'mon back with me, Kairi, I'll show you around. Yuffie, d'you want to come?"

Yuffie shook her head. "Thanks, but I think I'm gonna revel in the experience of being here and not working." She smirked. "And being able to sit still."

Cloud snorted. "You don't know _how_ to sit still."

After leaving Mustaine with a tech who seemed just as bright as Yuffie, but not as out-of-step- Aeris said his name was Irvine- Aeris showed Kairi the surgery room, the pharmacy, the treatment room where most everything was done, the new kennel, the- Kairi suppressed a shudder- freezer room, and the old kennel.

"And these," Aeris told her brightly, pointing at two cats in the old kennel, "are Mama and Otis, the hospital cats."

"Hospital cats?" Kairi crouched down to get a better look at them. Mama was a tortoiseshell that gazed right back at her with a look that said _I own this world. Who're _you Otis was a lazy looking orange-and-white who merely blinked at her, then flicked his tail back over his eyes and went back to sleep.

Movement caught Kairi's attention and her gaze shifted to a cat Aeris hadn't introduced. He was a gorgeous golden creature with a flowing mane, but as he limped forward, Kairi's eyes widened when she saw his back right leg was missing.

"The hospital cats live here, they-" Kairi cut Aeris off, reaching one hand out to the golden cat, smiling as he leaned into her hand with a loud purr.

"Who's_ he_?"

Aeris brightened. "That's Azland. We're trying to find him a home, he came in New Year's Day with a bullet lodged in his leg and we had no choice but to amputate."

"...Azland?"

"Well, originally it was Aslan, but there were some spelling errors and the name kinda morphed," Aeris laughed. Then, hopefully, "D'you want him?"

Kairi had risen by now with Azland in her arms, mindful of his missing limb. Her eyes shone brightly. "I'd love him, but I don't know if it would be okay with Yuffie and the others-"

"Hell yeah!" Yuffie called brightly from the doorway. "I've been looking for an excuse to take him for ages!"

Kairi turned back to Aeris. "Then yeah, I'll take him!"

A short while later they were on their way back home, this time with Yuffie and Kairi sharing the truck bed with Rezner and Azland. The two seemed to be getting along great. Mustaine was curled up, blissfully unconscious, in the passenger seat.

Cloud was blasting music again. Kairi leaned her head back with a smile and just listened, feeling the wind whipping her hair and clothes and Azland's golden fur. She vaguely recognized the song- her brother liked Megadeth, so she was a little familiar with their music.

_I'll be there for you, when you walk through the fire_

_I'll be there for you, when the flames get higher_

_When nothing fits and nothing seems right_

_Till the very last breath of my life, I'll be there for you_


	4. And The World's Alive

** And The World's Alive**

* * *

That night, Kairi laid awake for a long time. She'd opted to share a room with Cloud and Yuffie, not wanting to displace anyone. Yuffie and Cloud's room had two bunk beds- "They were cheap, y'know?"- and Kairi was sleeping in the top of one. Across the room, Cloud had claimed the top and Yuffie the bottom, and Kairi had spent some time watching in amusement as the two siblings bickered good-naturedly before finally going to sleep. At one a.m. It was now three in the morning.

This was going to take some getting used to.

Right at the moment, Kairi was just glad she didn't have to work in the morning. While watching Yuffie amuse herself by kicking the top of the bunk was funny, and the little cave...fort... _thing _she and Cloud had built out of the blankets was amusing, and the way they laughed and joked and traded insults and invented songs was entertaining, if they did this _every single night_ Kairi was uncertain if she'd ever sleep again.

Dammit, the last song they'd been singing was still stuck in her brain. At least she was reasonably certain that it had existed before tonight.

_We'll run away together  
We'll spend some time forever  
We'll never feel bad anymore_

With those words marching through her head and Azland purring softly next to her, Kairi was slowly lured to sleep.

She stood on a plain made of black glass that stretched endlessly in all directions. Without consciously choosing a direction, Kairi turned and began walking.

With each slow, steady stride, light fountained from the glossy plain. With each burst of light, another figure fell into step with Kairi, strides chiming in unison. After the fourth figure, Kairi stopped, studying them. As she did so, each figure faltered, one by one, so that the chiming no longer sounded in unison. Now they sounded one after the other, chichichichime, and Kairi watched the bright ninja, the dragonsouled mage, the world-hopper, the outcast thief.

Then they all stopped, one last, loud chime. Kairi jumped as there was a sudden roar and all four figures slammed together. The instant they all met and fused, the world bled, swirled, _shifted_ in a way she couldn't describe, and Kairi fell to her knees and squeezed her eyes shut.

A hand pulled her gently to her feet and Kairi slowly opened her eyes.

Yuffie stood before her, with the thief's clothing and the dragon's eyes and the ninja's hair and the world-hopper's smile, her hand looped around Kairi's wrist, and said one simple word.

"Come."

And the world shattered, and Kairi woke up.

"And we all stop dreaming, and we all start living..."

And dammit, they were _still_ singing.


	5. With the Sound of Kids

**With the Sound of Kids**

* * *

Actually, they were playing chess. 

More accurately, the two men Kairi had yet to meet were playing chess, while Cloud and Yuffie were... well... being themselves.

"Kill the King!" Yuffie chanted brightly.

"The King is dead!" Cloud replied.

"Long live the King!"

"I am the King!"

"God save the King," muttered the taller chess player. He had longer hair and a dark red bandanna. He glanced up at Kairi. "Hello. I am Vincent, and this is Leon-"

"- kicking his ass," Yuffie interrupted, leaning over the board. Vincent ignored her and continued.

"-you must be Kairi."

"Yeah," she said quietly, " I'm Kairi."

"...Checkmate."

Vincent shook Leon's hand and stood. Kairi shifted her gaze and realised that Leon was the one who'd given her the 'off' feeling in the parking lot. He nodded at her and followed Vincent as they walked out the door. She looked back at Yuffie, feeling uncomfortable.

Fur brushed her ankle. She looked down at Azland, who meowed loudly. Yuffie laughed. " Hey, I'll take care of him. You go join Cloud in the living room, I'll be in there in a sec. It's our day off, Leon has to work and he was dropping Vinnie off at the general store at the way." At Kairi's expression, she explained, "We've only got the truck, so we have to be creative when we all need to get somewhere. Vincent's going to pick up some groceries and some stuff for the house."

Kairi walked hesitantly into the living room, where Cloud had gotten to at some point. He was sprawled across the couch with a cat snoozing on his chest. This wasn't Mustaine, but a black-and-white cat she hadn't seen before.

Yuffie walked through the door, evidently having fed Azland already. She looked at the cat lounging on Cloud and scowled. "Hey, you! Get off of my Cloud!" The cat mewled and stayed stubbornly on top of the blond. "And you," she poked Cloud, "get off of my couch, you're hogging it."

Yuffie turned back to Kairi and smiled. "So, we've got a while. What do you want to do?"

--------------------------

Kairi didn't know what she wanted to do. She told Yuffie as much.

Yuffie stood up easily and grinned. "Well, we're not much for planning things out, so let's go."

"Go where?" Kairi asked, bewildered. Besides, hadn't Yuffie just said they had no transportation?

Yuffie shrugged, dashing out into the hall and grabbing a lightweight coat, tugging it on. "We'll find out when we get there, won't we? Grab your jacket, it's chilly outside."

------------

It wasn't chilly. It was freezing. Cloud was sensibly wearing layers; Yuffie, like a lunatic, was a wearing a T-shirt and jeans. Her jacket was draped over her shoulder.

"Don't you get _cold_?" Kairi complained, shivering. Yuffie laughed and calmly slung the jacket off her shoulder, wrapping it around Kairi instead.

"Not often. And not like you do, apparently."

They were walking along a dirt road. Kairi still had no idea where they were going, but she was starting to find that didn't bother her. She enjoyed just being outside with Cloud and Yuffie, bickering and laughing. Occasionally one of the two would burst into song and the other would join in. It wasn't long before Kairi found herself laughingly joining in as well.

After a while Kairi's curiousity began to get the better of her. "So why did you guys come out here?" She groaned. "Oh man, I just realized I don't even know your last name. And I'm living with you!"

Cloud laughed. "It's Strife," he said cheerfully. "Cloud Strife, Yuffie Strife, Vincent Strife. And Squall Leonhart, but he prefers Leon- we all changed our names when we left."

"You...changed your names?" Kairi asked, confused. She looked at Yuffie and felt the urgency she'd come to associate with the older girl pulse. "Why?"

"Same reason we came here." The humor was abruptly gone from Yuffie's voice as she stared at the sky. 'We didn't want to be found..." She turned and looked at Kairi, gray eyes suddenly piercing. "Kairi, always remember that once you've given something up you may never get it back." A shiver ran down Kairi's spine as Yuffie said her name.

Then the mood was past, and Yuffie and Cloud were singing and laughing again, leaving Kairi more confused than ever.


	6. On The Street Outside

**On the Street Outside**

* * *

It was a candy store. 

Yuffie had led them to a candy store.

Kairi stared unbelievingly around the walls of the Time Machine. It was full of candy, some kinds he hadn't seen in years, some she hadn't heard of, and old toys. Yuffie was playing delightedly with a ball and cup. And the prices were amazing; they were the same as they would have been in the era that the shop belonged in.

That meant, of course, that it was in the Strife's price range. Kairi had the sudden feeling that she'd been slowly falling not just out of step along with Yuffie's family, but out of time as well. She wondered if the rest of Himmel was like this, and it seemed she was going to find out. Cloud bought some sour-punch ropes, Yuffie her toy and some chocolate, and the two seemed intent on dragging Kairi all over town today.

The town, Kairi discovered quickly, was really more of a loose sprawl of buildings. The candy store, the general store, the animal hospital all the way at one end, a clinic for the human patients near it, what _looked_ like an old-fashioned smithy- Kairi was amused to see her notion of timelessness validated- and an old fairgrounds, empty now, but Yuffie promised there was a craft show coming up. From the look on her face, Kairi guessed Yuffie participated in the craft shows regularly.

The town, and the day, passed in a blur. In the evening, Kairi found herself walking through the door of Cid's Diner, Yuffie holding the door open for her. They sat down in a booth near the window and Kairi couldn't stop staring around the diner; she'd only seen places like this in old movies. After moments Yuffie jumped up with a laugh and turned on the jukebox, fingers flying to evidently familiar selections. The diner filled with music, an old song that Kairi's mother had loved.

"Heaven is a place on earth," Yuffie sang loudly, smiling at Kairi as she did so. Kairi felt her heart skip a beat, to her surprise and embarrassment. Cloud and Kairi got hot dogs, Yuffie bought a chili dog and stared at it with an intensity that was almost frightening, or would have been if it weren't so comical. "I love these things," Yuffie sighed, and then all but attacked it.

Leon was their waiter; he seemed privately amused as he glanced from Yuffie to Kairi. Cloud sat by himself on one side of the booth, while Yuffie had crammed into next to Kairi leaving less space than she might have been able to. Embarrassing her once again, Yuffie insisted on paying for her meal. They'd come to the diner shortly before it closed so that they could catch a ride home with Leon. They'd pick up Vincent on the way, the hardware store being a little to far out of town for even Yuffie and Cloud to walk, and the wrong direction besides.

Leon drove, leaving the passenger seat empty for Vincent as the other three chose to crowd into the truck bed. Not before Yuffie popped a CD in, of course, and so the music filled the air on the way back to their home.

_Ooooh, heaven is a place on earth... _


End file.
